"Professor Owens is working my ass off, of course. I'm staying up all night grading tons of papers, and he's taking all the credit."
"Well isn't that what teaching assistants do?"
"Yeah, but now that I am one, I see the gross inequality of it all. Seems like everyone in academia works their asses off when they're young, so that one day they can sit back and not have to work at all when they're forty. It's called tenure."
"Isn't that what you want?"
"I guess. It's part of my fifteen-year plan. Guess I shouldn't deviate from it now."
"Guess not."
"So tell me everything."
"Tell you what?"
"Tell me everything about the twin."
"Not a twin," I say annoyed with an edge to my voice.
"Right. What's his name?"
"Camden King."
"Right. So tell me about him."
"There's nothing to tell, Jana. You know I don't do relationships."
"I know you haven't had any relationships since Tyson, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. For God's sake, Jade, you two were only kids then."
"I understand that, but it doesn't really matter. I have zero interest in ties or relationships. I work at a place where I meet sexy, amazing men every night. Who wants to be tied down to one man when I'm always in the middle of the best smorgasbord ever?"
Jana puts her fork down for a moment.
"Not every man is horrible, Jade."
I don't look at her and continue eating.
"I never said they were."
"Mom wouldn't want you sleeping with every Tom, Dick and Harry."
"Is that what you think of me, Jana? You think I'm a whore?"
"Of course not."
"And why bring our mother into this?"
Our mother died five years ago from ovarian cancer. She was a warrior. A saint. Bringing her up is just fighting dirty.
"I'm not. I'm sorry I said anything. Just tell me about your boss Camden. I want to know why after he texts you, something lights up inside of you. Like sparklers."
"You watch way too much television. I'm just annoyed. There is nothing lighting up inside of me."
"Then why does he annoy you so much?"
Did I mention that my sister is a psychology graduate student? On track to have a rewarding research and teaching career.
"Because he won't leave me alone."
"In a creepy way?"
"No, not like that."
I've called him a creep before, but I'm not going to let my sister think he's one.
"Did you sleep with him?"
Might as well confess.
"Yes."
"Does he want seconds?"
"I don't know what he wants."
"Ah, so that's it. He doesn't just want your body, he wants more."
"He doesn't want more. He's just playing around. He's never been in a serious relationship in his life."
"Oh so he's damaged just like you."
"I don't think he's damaged, and neither am I by the way."
"What's wrong with him then?"
I might as well tell her. She won't stop asking questions.
"I've known him for a long time, Jana. He knows all about Tyson. He was there when it all went down, and Rome got me out of there."
Jana looks down at her plate. This is exactly why I didn't want to talk about this. Anytime I mention Tyson, this guilty look spreads across her face. We had a falling out back then. She told me, begged me, many times over to leave my ex, but I wouldn't.
At the time I felt trapped. I think that I felt like if I left him, that no one would love me again. My warped thinking and inability to get out of my toxic relationship created a wedge between me and Jana, and we stopped communicating for a long time.
That's why she thinks she failed me, because she wasn't around to help me when the shit really hit the fan. But I don't feel that way at all. She's three years younger than me. We were both young, our mother dead, but she was really a kid. It was my job to take care of her. Look out for her. Not the other way around.
Unfortunately her guilt, our sibling rivalry, and my inability to put up with a lot of her passive aggressive bullshit is why I have to keep a certain amount of distance from her. So we talk occasionally. See each other rarely. And I think it works best that way. Especially since she started speaking to our father again. I want nothing to do with that sinking ship.
"So you're embarrassed that he knows about that part of your life or something?"
"I'm not embarrassed about anything. I've accepted that I've made some bad choices. People do it all the time. I'm just saying that we know so much about each other. Too much."
"You must be really attracted to him then."
"What? Why do you say that?"
"After everything you just said about what he's seen and how much he knows, you still slept with him. That tells me a lot."
"We all have slip ups now and then."
"I don't believe in accidents, Jade, only fate."
♥ ♥ ♥
I stroll into The Lotus at 9:23 p.m. on purpose. I know exactly where all the cameras are located in the club, and I know that my creeper is probably watching them from his perch up in the club's office.
I stop to talk to Marco, the bar manager. I flirt with him from time to time, because it's just fun. Nothing serious. Nothing that's ever going to lead anywhere.
I can feel his eyes on me everywhere though.
Watching me.
Clocking my every move.
He's probably sitting in his chair practically seething because I'm late. That and the fact that I'm being so cavalier about it.
Uh-oh, here comes the other one.
"I think my brother is looking for you, hobbit." Cutter King says with a mischievous smile.
He calls me hobbit as if I don't already know when I wake up everyday that I'm vertically challenged. It just baffles me why all three of these jerks have to remind me of it every single day of my life. I mean is that all they've got?
"Why?" As if I didn't know.
"The hell if I know, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he fired Ray today."
Ray is our night manager that we never really needed. He kind of did the work that the old manager Larry used to do. Day to day stuff. But with all three of us working out of the club, and the boys having only a few clients, there really wasn't a need for Ray. Yet, I have an inkling that his firing is about something else entirely.
I make my way to the office and knock, something I usually don't do, but I have a feeling that I better this time.
"Come in."
When I enter the office, Camden is sitting at the desk with his laptop open, but the screensaver running. He's in here stewing about something.
When his head pops up and it registers that it's me who's entered the office, some sort of fleeting emotion passes over his face, and then his demeanor returns to normal. Hard.
"You're late."
"You fired Ray?"
"My business."
"Can I ask why you fired him? We didn't need him before, but now that you all have these new Miami clients, you're going to be stuck doing all the shit work around here and still have to deal with Miami."
"Correction, you're going to have to do the shit work."
"What!?"
"You are now the night manager of The Lotus."
"Oh, hell no. That's not in my job description."
"You don't have a job description. You do whatever the hell we tell you to do."
I suck my teeth.
"That means I'd have to be here almost every day and night of the week, Camden."
"I know what the job entails."
"Roman will never go for that."
"Roman is working the Miami clients, planning a wedding, and having a baby. He doesn't have time to deal with the shit at The Lotus. Someone needs to handle it."
"So you do it!"
"I have a lot to do for the Miami clients
too, and Cutter is handling Mendez on his own. Neither of us has the time to order olives and lemons for the bar or balance the books."
"Why did you fire Ray?" I challenge.
"We didn't need him."
I stare him square in the jaw. I locate a spot on his square jaw that I'd like to punch the hell out of, but I digress.
"Why did you fire Ray, creeper?"
"Why are you calling me names, midget."
"That's politically incorrect, asshole, and not even accurate. I'm short, but not that short. And you are most definitely a creeper. That's just factual."
"I should make you get on your knees right now."
Nasty.
"Shut up."
"You've done it before."
"Stop talking to me like that."
"Like what?"
"A whore!"
Camden stops talking for a moment and quietly stares at me in the careful and confident way that he always does. The look that sends shivers down my spine when no one is looking.
"I fired him, because he was in my way."
"How."
He glares at me angrily.
"You fucked him."
Something inside of me feels jittery.
"So."
"So, I didn't want to look at his fucking face anymore."
I look down at the floor, but I'm smiling. I don't want to feel this way, but I do. He's jealous, and I like it. A man lost his livelihood because Camden was jealous. What the hell. If I don't watch it, I'm going to turn into one of those girls I hate.
"I want thirty days," he says to me.
"What do you mean?"
"Work the manager job for thirty days. If you want to quit after that, you can."
"And what about my work for Roman?"
"I'll talk to him."
"So all I'll be doing is handling the club."
"That's right."
"I don't know if I'll like that."
"That's the point. I don't think you have any idea what you truly like or want, Jade."
His words are loaded with double meaning. And we watch each other closely and quietly, as we size each other up.
"I know what you're doing," I say. "But you forget that I know you well. I know how this will end."
"You have no inkling how this is going to end, because it hasn't really begun yet."
I can't believe I'm actually considering doing this, because I know what he's doing. I know that he imagines if he pins me down for a bit of time, that it'll be easy for him to get in my head. Easy for us to fuck like bunnies during this so-called thirty day trial period.
Hasn't he learned his lesson yet? I guess not. But I tell you what, he's about to learn a very long but simple thirty-day lesson ... Jade Barlow is anything but easy.
NEXT UP: Jade & Camden's Story!
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BONUS SCENE
Sloan & Cutter At The Gala
Author's Note: This is a scene from the Autism Gala that didn't make the book, but one which I thought was fun between Sloan and Cutter. I thought you'd enjoy it :)
"Here to catch an investment banker tonight, Ms. Pearson?"
"Very witty," I say with sarcasm to the dressed up caveman seated next to me.
He grins like he thinks that I'm actually amused by his degrading question, even though it's closer to the truth than I would like to admit.
"Me see that you found suit," I retort in the manner that Jane would speak to Tarzan.
Then he lets out a deep belly laugh that garners us a few glances from the other guests at our table.
"Let's dance, Princess."
Ick! I hate that overused, unimaginative term of endearment.
"If you're going to address me, please use my name. It seems like you and your friend have a problem with calling people by their God given names. Is that how they do things in your 'hood. Everyone gets a ridiculous nickname."
"You were much nicer when we first met. Why can't you be that girl again?"
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Now go away before people think we're here together. As if."
I motion for him to shoo with the back of my hand.
"Scoot. Shoo!"
The asshole laughs even harder.
I swear I don't know what on earth I'm doing to encourage this guy. I sat on his lap for ten seconds when we first met at The Lotus, and he's been giving me googly eyes ever since. Why am I not inspiring this type of adoration from the gazillion other men whom I've met over the last few weeks?
"Fine," I say in frustration. "I'll move then."
As I motion to stand up, Cutter King grabs me around my waist with clear purpose. His eyes dancing. His grip strong. And he pulls me in toward his very large pecs. Then he stands up slowly. Making sure to slide his chest against my breasts as he rises to his full height.
He's tall. Really tall.
Muscular. Massive.
Brick hard and built like a caveman.
Strong enough to bash the head in of any intruder. Fast enough to catch any prey. And I'm not going to lie, big enough in all the right places to give me the fuck of a lifetime.
"Save that dance for me, Princess."
Now I understand. This is why Bitsy wears panties, and me going commando was a bad idea.
What the hell is going to soak up all the wetness that the bass in his voice just produced between my legs?
"I need to excuse myself please."
And all I hear is Cutter King's arrogant, rumbling laughter echoing behind me, as I hightail it from the table to find the nearest ladies room.
NOTE FROM LISA
Thank you soooo much for reading the Cousins series. When I first came up with the idea for Cousins, it was only suppose to be a duet (a two book series). It was my first novel, and I wasn't sure that I could handle writing a longer series.
Well things have just organically evolved, and Cousins is now a three book series with a spin-off series in the works for The King brothers, Sloan, and Jade. Thank you for all your encouragement and support!
Also, your feedback is critical to my writing process. So please write me at [email protected] or visit me on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/authorlisalangblakeney and tell me your thoughts about the series. I love to hear from readers:)
Finally, I need a favor. If you have enjoyed the Cousins series, I humbly ask that you please leave a review for any or all of my books on Amazon and recommend the series to your friends. This really helps me as an author, as those ratings are so very important to us independent authors and allows other readers to find our books. Here's a link to my Amazon page: http://amzn.to/1YsCTKS
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME
1. I have a VIP Readers Group which is my mailing list. I only send free books, new release, or special giveaway information to this group. No spam. You can join here:
http://LisaLangBlakeney.com/VIP .
2. I also have two Facebook groups. The first is my private Readers Group also known as my "Ninjas" a.k.a. "Alpha Romance Warriors" where I share all things new going on, teasers, yummy pics, and just chit chat. It's a closed group for ages 18+ and over, and what we post won't show on your public feed:
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3. The other Facebook group is my street team also known as my "Street Ninjas". If you like my books and want to help me promote, then feel free to apply. You need to fill out a short application here first in order to be added to the team:
http://lisalangblakeney.com/street-team/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank every single reader, blogger, friend and family member who has taken a chance on the The Cousins Series. I know that you could have spent your money elsewhere. On a more established author or something at Target
The Cousins Series Boxed Set Page 64
